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The US, followed by the rest of the world, will be offered the pleasure of paying for BBC content when the broadcaster launches a subscription-based application for the iPad next year.

The US is likely to get its hands on the app first, some time in the middle of next year. If successful, BBC Worldwide - the broadcaster's money-making division - will extend it to other areas.

All of this depends on approval from the BBC Trust.

Luke Bradley-Jones, boss of BBC.com, told The Financial Times that the precise amount it would charge US viewers was still being worked out.

He said: "We're quite bullish about what we can charge, but we are still working out the details," according to the FT (subscription site). He said the app would have a "handcrafted feel, very much being about the best of British”.

He predicted a mixed model of subscriptions, download-to-own and pay-per-view. He said Apple's fondleslab "also maps pretty nicely on to our core target audience for the service". ®